


The Way With Women

by Northern_Lady



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Attempted Seduction, Protectiveness, Reunions, Sex for Favors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-26 00:34:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14988905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northern_Lady/pseuds/Northern_Lady
Summary: Tony returns to earth (post infinity war) with an alien guest, Nebula. Thor returns to his room and finds her waiting for him. One Shot.





	The Way With Women

In the two weeks since the battle had been lost to Thanos, Thor had hardly slept at all. Those who were left of the Avengers had been given rooms in Wakanda to stay and await Tony Stark’s return to earth. They had gotten a message from him letting them know he was alive and on his way home and that Peter Parker and Steven Strange who had gone with him had not survived. And with so much loss, the loss of his brother and of his friends, Thor could not sleep. 

The third week after the battle Tony arrived in Wakanda and brought with him the sister of Gamora, another daughter of Thanos called Nebula. The reunion of Tony and the Avengers was bittersweet. On the one hand everyone was happy to see him but his return just made the losses all that much more profound. It turned out that Rabbit and Nebula had met before and though they had not previously been friends, they were grateful to find someone they knew still alive. 

The survivors gathered that evening for a meal and to share with Tony their part in the battle against Thanos and give him the chance to share his own tales. While Thor had always liked stories of feats of battle, he did not like these stories. Thor did not enjoy telling Stark and Nebula how he had come so close to defeating Thanos and had still failed. 

“Your ax really pierced his chest?” Nebula asked at the end of his story. 

“It did but it was not enough,” Thor said sadly. 

“I’ve never known anyone or any weapon that could do that,” Nebula continued.

“I don’t see why it matters,” Thor told her. “In the end, I did not defeat him.” 

Nebula fell silent at that and resumed picking at the food on the plate in front of her. 

That evening when Thor returned to his room he found Nebula was waiting for him on his bed and wearing hardly anything at all. 

“What are you…?” Thor began as he absently closed the door behind him. 

“I thought you might be lonely,” she said simply. 

Thor didn’t have an answer for that. It wasn’t the first time that a woman had waited in his room for him to return. She was a beautiful woman and though he couldn’t deny that he was flattered by her efforts, there was simply too much grief within him to give her what she was asking for. He took too long to answer, long enough that Nebula grew uncomfortable and she reached for her clothes on the floor with an angry huff. 

“Fine, I imagine the king of Asgard doesn’t have any use for a woman who is half machine,” she said bitterly as she quickly pulled on her clothes and made for the door. 

Thor caught her arm as she tried to go past him and exit the room. “It’s not like that,” he told her sadly. “If the loss of my brother and my people was not so recent, I would gladly ask you to stay and share my bed.” 

Her eyes filled with tears. “Then would you consider letting me stay without sharing your bed?” she asked, her jaw trembling, but her gaze was not on him but on his ax which sat resting in the corner behind the door. 

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Did you come here for me or for my ax?” he asked plainly. 

She tore her gaze from the ax and met his eyes. “I already tried to pick it up. It’s too heavy for me. I wouldn’t be able to wield it. Not many people can.” 

As she spoke the words, the truth dawned on him. She had intended to seduce him in exchange for protection. Nebula had already told them over dinner a little of what Thanos had done to her, how he had torn out her eye and torn off her arm. Her father was still alive and more powerful than ever. She had every reason to be terrified and to seek out protection by whatever means she could. Thor knew he should be offended but he just didn’t have the energy to take offense at anything anymore. 

“If you wanted my protection you could have simply asked for it,” he told her a little sadly. 

“I didn’t...I never…” Nebula protested. 

“Then why else have you asked to simply sleep in this room?” 

She looked down at her feet as if ashamed of herself. 

“Stay,” Thor said simply. “Stay and sleep. I will keep to my own side of the bed and will keep my ax close by. You have nothing to fear.” 

“And you won’t tell the others?” Nebula asked. 

“I’ll not say a word about the matter,” Thor agreed. 

Nebula breathed a sigh of relief, went to the bed, threw back the covers, and crawled in. 

Thor woke in the morning as Nebula was leaving the bed. She sat on one edge of the bed and pulled on a pair of shoes. Then she glanced back at him and found him awake. 

“I am sorry for last night,” she said a little uncomfortably. “I have never done anything like that before.” 

“No, I can’t imagine you have. You remind me a little of Sif. She was a warrior as well. It would have been difficult for her to admit she was afraid or to seek help from anyone. She might have done something similar if fear had pushed her hard enough.” Thor said sadly, not wanting to face that Sif was gone as well. 

Nebula looked down at her hands then back at him. “I’ve always been afraid. Most of my life has been lived in fear. I learned to live with it a long time ago. That wasn’t why I came here.” 

“Then why?” Thor asked her, sitting up to get his own shoes. Maybe he had been wrong about her. Maybe she had wanted more from him than just protection. 

“Because now that Thanos has won, what do you think he will do with his victory?” Nebula asked. Her shoes were on and she came around to his side of the bed and sat down a few feet away. 

“I know too little about the man to be able to answer that. If he is like other men after battle, he would celebrate and feast with his family,” Thor said, and the implications of what she was saying dawned on him. “You think he will come for you? Even though he knows you hate him and have tried to kill him?” 

“Yes,” she whispered. “I think he will come if he ever learns that I am not just his adopted daughter but also his biological granddaughter. It was a truth I learned years ago...if he knows it...he will want to see me again, maybe to try and prove he was right..maybe to try to make amends...but if he does come for me, I need to be near the one person who can kill him. He needs to die. It would be stupid of me to wander off alone and miss our only chance left to kill him.”

Her reasoning made sense but Thor found he was a little insulted. “So you came here with no interest in actually sharing my bed and with no desire for protection? You only meant to place yourself here as bait for Thanos so that I could kill him?” 

Nebula stared at him a moment. “Well don’t let it bruise your ego. I still sought out the strongest warrior I could find to do the job.” 

“Banner might have been able to wield my ax,” Thor pointed out. 

“Banner is boring,” Nebula shot back at him. 

Thor grinned. “I knew you were interested in my company.” 

Nebula rolled her eyes and got to her feet. “I’m hungry. Are you going to breakfast or not?” 

Still smiling, Thor followed Nebula out to the common dining room that he and his friends had been using to share meals. Nebula hardly left his side all day. Thor couldn’t say that he minded her constant presence. Though he wasn’t as stupid as people believed him to be. She wasn’t keeping this close simply to give him a chance to kill Thanos. Thor had spent plenty of time around women, enough to know that Nebula valued his nearness for some reason. She kept close either because she truly was afraid and wanted his protection or because she was interested in him for more than just his skills as warrior. He didn’t know which of the two it was, only that she hadn’t been entirely truthful with him. The way she never strayed far from his side and occasionally leaned into his space told him that there was more going on with her than she had shared with him. 

By the time evening came, the Avengers had decided it was time to end their attempts at planning revenge on Thanos for that day. Most everyone wandered off to bed, leaving Thor and Nebula alone in one of the labs. 

“The hour grows late. I think it is best if we go to bed,” Thor said. 

Nebula raised an eyebrow. “Together?” 

Thor grinned, glad to have gotten her to admit what she wanted. “I have no objections to that.” 

Nebula got to her feet. “Let’s go then,” And she marched out of the room. 

Nebula went to the bedroom rather quickly. Thor kept up with her fast pace and closed the door behind them. He turned from closing the door to find Nebula standing next to the bed stripping off her clothes. She pulled off the clothing rather hastily and threw each item to the floor with an unwarranted forcefulness. This was not the behavior of passion. Nebula was angry. She stripped down to her underwear, threw back the covers and lay rather stiffly on the bed. Thor crossed the room warily, unsure what to make of her. He removed his red cloak, boots, belt, armor, and was down to just pants and a tunic before he joined her on the bed. He made no move to touch her. He just waited. Several minutes passed in silence and he heard her angry breathing begin to calm. He reached over and simply took her hand in his. Nebula burst into tears. They were not noisy sobbing tears. They were silent and still tears that he might not have even noticed had he not been paying attention. 

“Nebula?” Thor turned to his side where he could see her. 

She angrily brushed away the tears from her one intact eye. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.” ” 

“I do not think you are being truthful with me,” Thor replied sadly. “It’s not clear what it is you want from me and why you must make a secret of it.” 

“Because I don’t know how to tell you the truth!” 

“Try,. I have nothing better to do than listen,” Thor told her gently. “You seemed as if you were angry just now. Am I wrong?” 

“I was. I was angry with myself. Angry for resorting to...to whatever I had to do....and after I already apologized yesterday I was ready to to try again to gain your attention…” she said, somewhat incoherently but clearly enough that Thor understood. 

“What were you trying to accomplish?” Thor asked her. “If you were simply lonely and wanted someone to share your bed, I would take no insult in that.” 

“It wasn’t as simple as that.” she replied, frustrated, “I was lonely, I am lonely...and...and I am afraid. You were right about that. I just didn’t want to be weak enough to ever say so aloud. I spent so many years in terror that any moment I could lose an arm or an eye. I reached a point that I would do anything to be safe for just a little while...and you...you’re safe...I thought...I’m sorry…” 

“Nebula…” Thor moved a little closer to her and placed his hand on her arm. “There is no wrong in seeking safety. There is no wrong in seeking a lover.” 

“It felt wrong. It felt as if I were trading favors for protection. I thought it was a trade I was willing to make until the moment came and I knew it wasn’t something I could do.” 

“Then don’t. Stay here by night if you wish and at my side by day. If Thanos comes, I will do what I can to fight him. I will do that even if you do not wish to share my bed.” Thor told her honestly. “He killed my brother and my people. I want him dead,” 

“Does that mean you don’t want me here?” Nebula asked, a little worried. 

“No. It means you are free to go or to stay.” 

She responded to that by rolling close enough to him that he could put his arms around her. As his arms came around her she leaned close and kissed him. The kiss lasted a long while before Nebula pulled free of his arms and turned away to go to sleep. Thor gazed after her agape. God, she was a confusing woman. 

“


End file.
